Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Therapy With a Bang

The pressures of society, work, family and everything else do all but push us over the edge. To a certain degree modern man often feels as though he is somewhere he doesn’t belong; in a suit, behind a desk, carrying trays of food. Some part of the ancient and ancestral memory is always reminding us to be ready to tackle a saber-toothed tiger or skewer a wild boar, or to fight off the neighbor who might steal your meat and tools.

The primal instinct to hunt and fight is built into us, and the crisply starched social order we have constructed for ourselves does nothing to remove it. If anything it is stifled and becomes unruly and restless within our minds, lashing out at inappropriate times and in inappropriate places like at home with family, at work, or in traffic when that old sense of mortal urgency is tragically misdirected and an empty can finds its way to a fellow motorist’s window. And if you aren’t lucky you get fined or locked up.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training in a good well disciplined school like Peak Performance Martial Arts in Keller, Texas, is a great way to channel that energy in a healthy and constructive environment and leave you feeling calm and in control in all of the high stress situations you deal with every day.

First of all there is the total body workout. Every gym rat will tell you that if they miss a day’s workout they can’t function with all of the pent up aggression and energy. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu requires the use of all the muscles in the body for a wide range of sport specific motions and activities and is at times both aerobic and anaerobic giving you a very complete workout and helping your build real functional muscle mass (not the waterlogged bulges you get from just lifting weights, but real muscle).

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu also has a heavy element of sparring. And as far as things that relieve stress, frustration, sadness, anger or any other not so useful emotion there is nothing better than a heated sparring session amongst friends.

In a good school the closeness and physical aggression of sparring is so much like real combat that your subconscious mind and your body will accept that you have done your required survival for the day. This means there are no directionless hormones, neurotransmitters or other mind altering chemicals running around your head waiting to cause trouble.

But most importantly the training will give you self confidence and a sense of achievement and understanding. So much of the aggression we feel throughout our day comes from our feeling of helplessness, of having no control over the situation, which causes fear and fear is ugly. If you have trained you know the techniques. If you have sparred you know how to use the techniques and what it feels like when a good fighter uses those same techniques against you, and, as a result, you will feel empowered and in control.

Good training under a good coach or sensei will improve your confidence to the point where you no longer feel the need to confront and threaten everyone who annoys you, you will be able to smile and go on your way assured in your ability to control the situation (because that’s what you will have just done).